| This thesis examines the spatially uneven evolution of the Internet industry in China's changing socio-economic environment. Using a census data, I demonstrate the evolution of founder structures and business models of China's Internet startups in space and through time. Taking a system view of institutions and a resource-based view of industrial development, I interpret the decade-long history of China's Internet development, characterized by the interplay of multiple factors at multiple geographic scales, through an analytic narrative.; Contemporary geographic approaches to the 'knowledge economy' emphasize knowledge accumulation and spillover. When societal parameters such as the legitimacy, stability, and efficiency of the state are treated as variables rather than frozen assumptions, however, I found that the causality of spatially uneven economic development has to be interpreted differently.; In market competition, firms and entrepreneurs strive not only for knowledge, but also to explore any institutional loopholes for financial gains, especially in an emerging market economy characterized by the short supply of order. Entrepreneurship can be a mixture of productive, unproductive and destructive activities, the de facto composition of which is shaped by the value-rationality of actors and societal parameters.; My findings suggest that the leadership goal and political strategy, shaped by both historical legacy and the value-rationality of politicians, of both central and local governments exert strong influence on the institutional structure and trajectory of industrial development. In this sense, the chariot of industrialization has to be pulled by two horses: states and entrepreneurs. Moreover, my findings indicate that evaluating the role of relation-based exchange must make reference to the function of rule-based exchange and their mutual influence.; Furthermore, my findings suggest that money, in the form of finance capital and revenues, is a key resource as important as knowledge to firms, especially those startups in an emerging industry. The spatially uneven supply of knowledge and money is shaped by both historical endowment and the evolving economic and institutional environment, characterized by both incremental and revolutionary changes. Particularly, the formation and growth of industrial clusters depend on the interplay of key resources in a sequential and complementary manner through time. |
